Roy Keane Blames Manchester United Players for Champions League Exit

Roy Keane has accused some of Manchester United's players of "hiding" behind the criticism of manager Louis van Gaal and believes there is a distinct lack of quality in the Red Devils squad.

United were knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday after their 3-2 loss to Wolfsburg, and Van Gaal has taken much of the blame, per Scott Patterson on ESPN FC.

However, Keane—a Champions League winner with United in 1999—has put more of the blame on the players and suggested on ITV the squad is simply not good enough (via MailOnline's Jack Bezants):

"

I think Man United have a lot of good players, there is no getting away from that, but I don't think they are good enough for Man United, I really don't. I think the manager is obviously getting a lot of criticism and a lot of the players are hiding behind that. People are talking about the tactics, the systems, but it is about the players as well. They are almost robotic. 

I think they lack real quality. When you think about Man United, you always associated they will have one or two special players ho can produce. They seem to be lacking a few characters, a few leaders.

"

The Irishman arguably has a point. Although the likes of Jesse Lingard, Memphis Depay and Anthony Martial have bags of potential, they are some way short of the quality of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney—in his prime—Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, whose brilliance inspired United to European glory under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1999 and 2008.

Ian Walton/Getty Images

Leaders to match the likes of Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic and, of course, Keane himself, also seem to be absent from the current crop at Old Trafford.

United were slammed for their performance against Wolfsburg on Tuesday, criticised as "embarrassing" and "amateurish," via BBC Radio 5 live's George Riley:

"

Loser Van Gaal. Embarrassing, amateurish, excruciating. Today's backpages #mufc #morningbytheway pic.twitter.com/A6PvIvCXxP

— George Riley (@georgeyboy) December 9, 2015"

As Paul Scholes noted on BT Sport, it was no surprise United were knocked out of the competition because they are an "average team" (via Tom Marshall-Bailey of the Manchester Evening News).

The Premier League giants have taken a huge amount of criticism this season for being boring—five of their last 10 matches have ended goalless—and Van Gaal's brutal coaching methods have been widely questioned, such as by Paul Parker on Eurosport.

Indeed, United players have now reportedly admitted to fearing public reprimands from the manager, which has led to a downturn in team morale, per Kieran Gill in the Daily Mail.

However, Keane has moved the microscope away from the manager and onto the players, suggesting on ITV that Van Gaal is not exclusively the problem (via Bezants):

"I think managers get too much credit when things are going well and they get too much criticism when things aren't going so well."

While ejection from the Champions League is far from ideal, United remain just three points off the top in the Premier League ahead of an upcoming trip to Bournemouth on Saturday.

Their season could still be a success, with the Premier League, the FA Cup and now the Europa League genuine possibilities for silverware.

Van Gaal and the players both need to up their performances, though, as their current displays are not those of a title-winning side.